Condi's falling star

Posted By Blake Hounshell Monday, June 16, 2008 - 1:32 PM Share

This is what it's like to be the envoy of a lame duck. Time's Tim McGirk reports from Israel on U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's latest trip:

On Sunday, Rice just passed through Jerusalem again. Ghosted through might be a better description since this time there was no fanfare, no motorcades snarling up the city’s traffic, and the lady couldn't even book a room in her usual hotel, the David Citadel. She had to settle for a less grand hotel, though admittedly it wasn't one of those pilgrim fleapits in the Old City. But for me, that's a sign of how far how far her superpower status has fallen in the dwindling days of Bushdom.

McGirk also notes that Condi's name is now being used as a verb on Israeli television, "meaning to go endlessly around in circles, accomplishing nothing."

EXPLORE:MIDDLE EAST, BUSH ADMINISTRATION, DIPLOMACY, ISRAEL/PALESTINE

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CINDY

1:22 PM ET

June 16, 2008

That's not the only way her name is being used

Some people I know refer to Israel's getting screwed by State as having "Condyloma"--a real medical term actually for a sexually transmitted disease.

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